Read this: The Advert Enforcer (http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9011-invention-the-tvadvert-enforcer.html)
I like the part about paying a fee to be able to skip the commercials.
When I read that, I got about a quarter of the way through the micro electric generator part and thought that was how they were going to stop people from watching ads!
Then I realized it was about a different patent.
LOL! (duh!)
Who are they to make us a captive audience!?
They can take that patent and shove it you know where...
I'm not buying that! I want to be able to skip commericals!
Until they invent an automatic set of clamps that come out of my chair AND a mechanism to prevent me from turning OFF the TV, they can never force me to watch the commercials. I HATE commercials. I generally mute them, or leave the room.
The only ones I really enjoy are during NASCAR races .... and not so many of those, either.
Ulthar, don't give them any ideas . . .
ulthar Wrote:
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I HATE commercials. I
> generally mute them, or leave the room.
I do the same exact thing! 99% of commericals these
days are so idiotic, that you loose brain power if you
watch them!
It's too late. The earliest this could really matter is, quite literally, 2015+. There's too many existing recorders. And who would buy the new recorders with this "feature"? ESPECIALLY since we all know the Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese off-brands will never add it.
I guess they COULD add it to digital cable boxes though, in the next few years... That would annoy me enough to switch back to regular cable.
Jim H Wrote:
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> That would annoy
> me enough to switch back to regular cable.
Except for the fact that in the coming years
(5 or 6 I think it is; maybe even less) analog
cable won't exist.
Sooner or later, it will be illegal to not own a TV, on the premise that it will increase national security (gotta have quick alerts in case of terror, you know). Then it will be illegal to turn off your mandatory TV for the same reason.
I remember Stephen king wrote the "Running Man" and I think in that story every household got and had to keep a t.v. or a "free-vee' and watch all of the reality shows.
That's gonna happen eventually.
Not only do I not watch moer commercials (buy leaving the room to get a drink, or mute it and talk to my wife, or...lot's of things...) commercials that annoy me I refuse to be the products of the company...and I tell my friends
akiratubo Wrote:
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> Sooner or later, it will be illegal to not own a
> TV, on the premise that it will increase national
> security (gotta have quick alerts in case of
> terror, you know). Then it will be illegal to
> turn off your mandatory TV for the same reason.
>
That sounds like a great idea for a short story/film!
Funny thing is that the main reason TV channels have for condemning P2P sharing of series and TV shows is that in that way they don't watch the commercials. Now that some are starting to allow their free download (through their own systems), they mentioned they would include commercials.
Unwanted side effect: Now I feel thrilled when I switch channels at home to avoid the ads. Makes me feel like world's most wanted criminal (yes, I'm THAT lame).
What I find funny is the skills a couch potato can learn in terms of timing: it's considered a good thing being able to time the ads so that you can change channels when the break starts, and change back just as the show starts back again. Some people win gold medals, others have uncanny senses of timing. Great stuff really.
That being said, screw 'em! Plain, simple and elegent: screw 'em. I'd rather have my ads outside of the show I'm watching rather than have tv shows filled to the brim with 'subtle' advertising. I almost sense a "Truman Show" moment where I'll be watching a new episode of Stargate, and some alien will turn to the screen and say: "When trying to destroy humanity, I brush with Colgate, because there's no point in total domination, if you can't even keep your teeth clean!"
I mean, reality TV shows lace it in as much as humanely possible for the most case anyway, I don't need that crap all over actual shows as well [well we don't need it moreso than usual at least]
Unless you find another way to get money to the TV stations, ads are a must, better we leave it as it is now rather than find new ways to get to us.
I've noticed that the WB network has become very blatant about product placements. Someone gets a new car on Everwood and it' not only mentioned but the brand and model name are said out loud, then the next commercial break features said car.
This is terrible. I think I see enough commericials unintentionally. Now you won't even be able to turn the channel. It's one step to far. Even when you turn to another channel they usually have all the commercials timed anyway for the same moment on all the channels.
On a related note, I've noticed Saturday programming here locally has been completely overwhelmed with infomercials. I let my daughter watch Animal Atlas on Saturdays (which they move too often, btw) and this past Saturday, afterward I left the TV on waiting for my wife to get home from work. All four major networks had infomercials at the same time.
I find it aggravating when they all have college sports on at the same time, but 1000% more aggravating when all are showing New Deals at Bob's Used Car Mart or Manage Your Debt with Diet Pills Now.
"Sooner or later, it will be illegal to not own a TV, on the premise that it will increase national security (gotta have quick alerts in case of terror, you know). Then it will be illegal to turn off your mandatory TV for the same reason."
The day that happens is the day I start stockpiling explosives for "personal use".
This whole thing reminds me of one of the few times the public outrage really mattered. Does anyone remember when they started putting adds on the bases in pro ball? People were so outraged they were gone in like a day.
It seems like, even though they've gone through babysteps by increasing the amount of ads we see, there are some lines the public won't let them cross. Not many, but some. Nice to know, I guess.
Personally, I watch very little TV these days anyway. Occasional reruns on the Game Show network and the occasional documentary on the History Channel cover most of it, plus the movie channels (which don't have ads I have to watch anyway, outside of in-movie promotion).
Jim H Wrote:
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> The day that happens is the day I start
> stockpiling explosives for "personal use".
If you wait until that day to START, you've waited too long. ;)
We were watching "Numbers" tonight and one of the FBI agents said to the other something like "I will Nextel you with the information when I get it." (That's not what she said, but the Nextel part was there in that context).
I groaned, looked at my wife and said, "did she REALLY just say that?" Forget using a brand name as a verb and the blatant, very forced product placement, but it really is getting to where the TV shows themselves are ads and not just vehicles to get you to watch the ads.
I sure hope somebody somewhere gets an earful about that (though I won't hold my breath). Dis-gusting.
Product placement is all over the big shows [well most of them anyways] from a shot lingering a little too long on a certain object, to everyone in a 'family' owning a lexus despite the family themselves not having any money, or just making a big deal out of a certian product, like that Nextel comment, being somehow crucial to the story or some crap.
Reality TV for the most part is just a walking, talking ad, really, and on top of thatt it's all very very annoying.
And yes, whilst there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed, us as consumers tend to have a lot less power in changing things for the most part [I tend to think we're too complacent when it comes to these things.]
"If you wait until that day to START, you've waited too long. "
By "That day", I meant "right this second".
;)
To quote Burt Gummer..."And they call me paranoid."
I always said television exists to sell products. If that goes, so does television... which is fine by me. :)